


Brighter Than the Stars

by SennyriNamis23



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: F/F, Femslash February, Femslash February Celebrates Black Women
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2019-03-20 19:03:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13724049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SennyriNamis23/pseuds/SennyriNamis23
Summary: Lana and Raelyn go to a party. Shenanigans ensue.





	Brighter Than the Stars

“You know how much I dislike parties.”

“It is not a _party_ , it is a banquet,” Lana explained tiredly, looking in their shared wardrobe for formal wear.

Raelyn’s lips twitched as she muttered, “I like banquets even less.”

“Mmm, and yet it is still necessary that you make an appearance at this one. The highest dignitaries from the Sith, Zakuul, and Republic will be there. The Eternal Alliance Commander must attend, as well,” she replied, handing her wife a hangar.

Raelyn looked at the outfit and back to her wife, unsure if she should keep fighting this battle or not. She knew she couldn’t win it, but that hadn’t ever stopped her before.

“It’s either the suit or a dress, my love,” Lana clarified without looking at her, still elbow-deep in the wardrobe.

Raelyn looked from the hangar to the woman before her for a moment, pondering her options; she eventually threw the suit on the bed and wrapped her arms around her wife from behind, kissing her ear and whispering, “Or I could wear nothing at all.”

Lana ran her fingers over Raelyn’s arms, turning around in her embrace to hold the scarred side of her face with one hand while she kissed her lips, “Oh, I am counting on that. But not until _after_ we’ve made a suitable appearance.”

“Mmm are you sure? Would they really notice if we weren’t there?” Raelyn leaned into her hand and closed her eyes.

“Absolutely positive,” the other woman replied, gently rubbing her thumb across Raelyn’s cheekbone, “Now go change.”

She kissed Lana one more time with a smirk before finally pulling away, taking her clothes off the bed and into the refresher with her. Not that she and Lana hadn’t stripped down and changed in the same space before - quite the contrary, in fact - but something in her tone suggested that Raelyn should clean herself up in the process, and alone. So she changed quickly into the three-piece suit, touched up the little makeup she wore, and pulled her dark crinkly hair back into a ponytail like she normally did. Nowhere did it say she couldn’t at least be vaguely comfortable with herself for the whole affair. Raelyn looked in the mirror and pressed her hands down her jacket and pants. She so preferred her armor.

When she returned to the bedroom, Lana was standing at the mirror, fussing with an earring that didn’t quite want to go in.

And stars above, she was stunning.

She’d switched out her own practical gray armor for a dark green dress, form fitting and floor-length. The dress itself was simple, but overlaid on the bust was an intricate layer of lace, flowing off her shoulders and trailing behind her like an elegant cape. Raelyn was sure she must have looked ridiculous, taking in the sight of her wife with wide eyes as if she’d never seen anything like her before.

Lana just chuckled as she clicked the troublesome earring into place, “Are you just going to ogle me from the refresher door?”

Hearing her voice finally brought Raelyn back to this plane of existence, and she pushed herself from the doorframe, taking three strides across the room to take Lana in her arms again.

“You look _wonderful_.”

“Mmm,” Lana hummed, eyes glittering as they glanced up and down, “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you in something quite so flattering.”

She blushed, feeling the heat in her cheeks. The other woman just laughed quietly, truly letting her guard down for the first time in a long time.

Raelyn held her arm out, “Shall we?”

Lana shook her head but wrapped her arm around her wife’s, planting a kiss to her cheek and leaning against her lightly, “Let’s make an entrance.”

The Odessen cantina had been transformed by the droids, under Indo Zal’s instruction no doubt, into a luxurious station for food, drink, and music. One of the more popular Bith and Twi’lek sextets were set up in the corner, playing a song that Raelyn vaguely recognized. Folks were loitering near the buffet tables, waiting impatiently for the food to be brought out. Even more of them were lined up at the bar for Koth and Raj to serve them drinks.

The Interim Chancellor of the Republic was the first to greet them, the beautiful violet Nautolan, taking one of Raelyn’s dark hands as well as one of Lana’s pale ones in her own.

“It’s a pleasure and a delight to see you here, Commanders,” she said, her words smooth and silky, like she’d already had a couple glasses of wine, “We are all grateful for your hospitality. Please, join us.”

Raelyn nodded, replying stiffly, “It’s our pleasure, Galena. Did your wife make it here with you?”

Galena Rans nodded and motioned to a Zabrak woman on the other side of the room, her skin taking an interesting orangey hue in the light of the dancefloor, the lights reflecting off the silvery jewellry that donned her horns. The music from the band was light-hearted, but Raelyn wasn’t sure it was something she actually wanted to dance to. But, maybe after a few drinks she’d loosen up.

Fortunately, two bourbons were waiting for them at the bar. Her brother sent her a wink before attending to the next diplomat in line. Lana motioned with her head to a corner that was empty, leading her wife to it, only for them to be stopped by Empress Acina and Darth Vowrawn, who were having some sort of intellectual spat. Or, at least as intellectual as they could get given the amount of alcohol they’d already consumed.

“No, Vowrawn, you cannot just _stick it in a Boma_ and expect the same sort of results as a sentient humanoid,” Acina explained with uncharacteristic exasperation in her voice, “Please be reasonable.”

Vowrawn just huffed and took a long sip of his drink, “I could say the same to you- ah! _Commander_! And Lord Beniko! Come, join us!”

Raelyn was decidedly not drunk enough for this, but Lana tugged on her sleeve. Even if he was plastered out of his mind, it didn’t do anyone any good to deny Darth Vowrawn’s requests. Acina’s Miralukan wife joined them, as well, bringing two fluorescent pink drinks over, though as soon as the glass made it into Acina’s hand, she drained it in one go. Seemed Raelyn wasn’t the only one who wasn’t drunk enough for this.

“We were just discussing-”

“We’re discussing something _different_ now.”

Vowrawn scratched absently at his chin tendrils, “Ah, yes, well…”

Fortunately, Acina picked up the conversation, “It is a pleasure to see you here, Lord Politryk. I wasn’t sure if you’d make it.”

“Mmm yes, I believe there’s some sort of betting pool going around,” Vowrawn noted, swirling his drink and seeming to get lost in it, his eyes following the cherry in circles around the bottom of the glass.

Raelyn looked to Lana, who held her sabacc face well.

“Uhh yes, well, here I am,” she replied awkwardly, shoving her free hand in her pocket in an attempt to look nonchalant despite her discomfort.

“Would you care to join us for a round of djarik?” Acina asked, “I absolutely loathe pazaak and sabacc. And these _simpletons_ simply do not understand the pleasures of a more complicated game.”

Raelyn’s stomach sank a little at the thought of having to entertain the egos of the three most esteemed Sith in the galaxy in a game of strategy. Probably for hours.

But Lana took her arm and shook her head, “I’m terribly sorry, but we must attend to the other guests. May the Force ever serve you.”

The three Sith just bowed their heads and made for the closest table, which was quickly emptied by Republic diplomats so they could sit. Raelyn scanned the room for another empty corner, praying she might get some blissful seclusion with the woman on her arm. The room was getting more and crowded as folks wandered in. The band continued to play from their spot at the head of the dance floor, but it was difficult to hear them from the other side of the room now. Droids were constantly replacing the buffet trays, food being taken as soon as it was put down. Sometimes before it even made it that far. It was loud, and it was crowded, and it was hot. But Lana kept her hand on Raelyn’s forearm, preventing her from making a run for it. Evidently, they hadn’t made a sufficient appearance yet.

Tai Cordan stood with Malita Tal, the Zakuulan singer-turned-politician, both sipping on clear drinks and laughing together. They seemed safe enough to approach, so Raelyn and Lana dropped their now empty glasses off with Raj and Koth at the bar and made their way to them.

“Aah, Commander! Lana! How wonderful to see you,” Tai shouted cheerfully, as always, over the din.

“Tai, Malita,” Raelyn greeted with two nods, “How are things?”

Before either of them had a chance to reply, there was a crash behind them and a few following screams. Both she and Lana whipped their heads around to see what the commotion was.

One of the buffet tables had been overturned, various sauces splattered all over the floor and bar. And on a few guests’ suits and dresses. No one seemed sure as to how the table actually flipped, but there were certainly a lot of fingers and talons and claws pointed around the room. Even the band had stopped playing, all of its members watching as the scene played out before them.

A Wookiee with no small amount of red sauce on its fur immediately lunged and picked up a small and squirming human man under the armpits, growling the entire time. The human’s companion took the moment to throw another tray of food at the Wookiee in an attempt to convince him to put down her human companion. Unsurprisingly, this did not work. Raelyn cringed as the Wookiee let out an ear-shattering roar and threw one human into the other, all three of them now drenched in buffet debris. Theoretically, any Force-user in the room could have probably restrained him, but those of them who weren’t blindly drunk were simply unwilling to incur a Wookiee’s wrath. Raelyn instinctively reached to where her lightsabers normally would have been at her hips, her brain only kicking in after she brushed her hands across the fabric of her pants. Looking to her wife then, they made a silent pact to keep out of whatever happened next. It took all of a minute before more food went flying across the room in every which way, the poor droids utterly confused by this turn of events. Even the new trays of food didn’t last long before they were wiped clean and hurled across the room. Lana put up a hand to erect a shield in front of them, keeping the worst of the food off them.

“I reckon we’ve stayed long enough, what do you think?” Raelyn asked, shouting to be heard even though Lana was right beside her.

Lana rolled her eyes but nodded, and it didn’t take more than a moment for the two of them to escape out of the food fight and to the safety of the overlook outside the building. Raelyn immediately kicked her heels off, breathing in the glorious crisp Odessen air and feeling the drizzle on her face.

Lana intertwined her fingers with Raelyn’s and remarked, “Well, that didn’t exactly go as intended.”

Raelyn barked out a laugh, throwing her head back a bit, “I thought it went _marvelously_.”

She looked over to her wife, the soft light emanating from inside casting a gentle glow on her pale skin, her golden eyes shining in the low evening light. Raelyn felt her breath hitch in her lungs for a moment, captured in the gaze of the woman before her. Lana shook her head in feigned annoyance, but she was having a harder and harder time keeping the smile from tugging at her lips. She looked out over the forest, and for a moment, they let the silence hang comfortably between them, the sound of the food fight muffled behind them.

“I think we’ve sufficiently earned some time alone,” Lana suggested, “What do you think?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

Raelyn picked up her discarded shoes with one hand and held Lana’s hand with the other as they quietly made their way through the base to their quarters. The room lit up as they entered, and Lana immediately unclasped the lace cape part of her dress and laid it on the couch gently. She breathed deeply with the weight off her shoulders, and she looked over to Raelyn, who had been glued to the spot on the floor where she’d been standing.

“What?”

With a flick of her wrist and a touch of the Force, Raelyn nudged a button on the terminal beside them, smiling as soft, slow music quietly filled the room. She bowed dramatically and held out a hand to Lana in offering.

“May I have this dance, my love?”

She could feel Lana rolling her eyes, but Raelyn also felt her take her hand and she smiled as she straightened up again, pulling her wife in close to her. She smelled like bourbon and sweat and leather, and gods if Raelyn loved her any more she would have burst. Both of them swayed slowly with the music without any interest in letting go. Eventually, Lana rested her forehead against Raelyn’s and dug her fingers into her wife’s jacket. Raelyn rubbed her thumb softly against her side and tilted her head to kiss the woman before her.

“Mmm,” Lana hummed contentedly, “Thank you.”

Raelyn snorted, “For kissing you?”

Lana eyed her with a combination of frustration and amusement, “No, not for kissing me. For joining me this evening.”

“Mmm,” Raelyn replied with a smirk, “It is difficult to reject such an invitation when it comes from you. Especially when it comes with the promise of seeing you undressed after.”

Lana shook her head, but there was no missing the little smile on her face, “You are insufferable, you know that?”

Raelyn just kissed her again, letting go of her wife’s waist to hold the side of her cheek.

“I love you, Lana,” she whispered between kisses.

“I love you, too, Raelyn.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for the lovely defira and angelicfangirl and emilykcomicsmith for being great betas and crying all over this :D  
> My poor girls have been separated for far too long in my longfic and deserved a silly, fluffy night.


End file.
